Turkey: Erdogan, nation has chosen stability

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) secured 10,63 percent of votes.

According to preliminary results compiled by Anadolu Agency, the AK Party secured 317 seats at the 550-seat Grand National Assembly, increasing its vote rate by 8.61 points.

Local residents reported convoys of AK Party supporters in the streets, while others no doubt reflected on their parties’ defeat, in what was otherwise a quiet night.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spared no time in capitalizing on his party’s stunning parliamentary election win Monday and called for redrafting the constitution to transform governance to a presidential system.

During his tenure as prime minister from 2003 to 2014, when he became president, Erdogan alienated a growing segment of the population, with many resenting his authoritarian-style leadership and efforts to impose Islam on the country’s traditional secular democracy.

The main opposition CHP at 25.2% and the nationalist MHP opposition on 12%.

In Turkey, the government holds most power but the president can veto laws, veto appointments of officials, appoint judges and is commander in chief of the military.

Sunday’s election delivered a clear victory to Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), a dramatic turnaround after it lost its parliamentary majority in June. Crowds outside President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s home in Istanbul were shouting “Turkey is proud of you”. Opposition parties are hoping to force Davutoglu into forming a coalition.

On top of that, now that Mr Erdogan has won his election, he must be pressured to restart the peace process with the Kurdish PKK, with many seeing the recent reigniting of hostilities as an electoral strategy first and foremost.

Analysts say anxiety over the resurgent Kurdish conflict that has plagued Turkey for three decades and a spate of bloody attacks by the Islamic State group were key reasons why voters flocked back to the AKP.

While the pro-Kurdish HDP crossed the 10% threshold needed to claim seats in parliament, but it got 21 fewer seats than in June’s election.

The overall verdict of the Organisation for the Security and Cooperation of Europe (OSCE) was that the elections were mainly free and fair, despite the hard security situation in the troubled southeast, which prevented the European monitors from deploying there.

Although a corruption scandal a year ago involving many of Erdogan’s closest allies and the June election setback seemed to suggest his star was on the wane, he has shown that he has a knack for speaking for ordinary Turks, particularly outside the capital and Istanbul. When it could not, new elections were called and on Sunday, Erdogan snagged the gold ring. Turkey shares is borders with Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Bulgaria, and Greece.